Products

Aside from offering an array of gift items sourced internationally and locally at Room 2046, I was keen on producing a capsule collection of stationery and housewares that were conceived, designed and/or produced in-house. Working in the store almost on a daily basis enabled me to observe consumers' behaviour closely and understand their demands, thus informed my decisions when it came to buying and producing the kind of products that would sell. In a way, the limited time and resources helped narrow down options, but also encouraged creativity and flexibility. Through trial and error, and a steep learning curve, the Room 2046 collection proved relatively successful as seen in sales results and customers' positive feedback. 

Concrete Planters

The goal was to create objects that were functional, accessible, and fitting with the aesthetics of Room 2046. So I began to hand-pour and craft a collection of planters made of concrete. Drawn from the shop's eclecticism of mixing the high with the low and juxtaposing beauty with grit, I thought it would be apropos to produce vessels made from gritty and solid materials to display delicate flowers and hold something ephemeral like candle wax.

Wrapping Paper

In the same vein as the "Shitty Series," as inspired from the popular poop emoji, I decided to borrow from another cheeky cultural reference, in this case – the eggplant. I collaborated with a talented member of the staff, Lucy Zhang, to design the shop's own wrapping paper. Through her artistry, she used watercolours to paint a gorgeous iteration of the eggplant that smartphone users are familiar with. Along with the eggplant, we worked together to create the traditional Christmas pudding illustration launched in time for the holiday season in 2016. 

Classic Cocktail Candles

Inspired by classic cocktails and hand-poured into short rock glasses, these soy-wax candles are the end result of endless research, battery of tests, steady hands, and patience. Developed from a single idea into a series of four different fragrances, Old Fashioned, Sidecar, Mai Tai and Paloma, this collection is an ongoing project.  

Onesie a Day

Having an affinity for architecture and the urban landscape, I made a series of sketches and cartoons of buildings and construction that resembled letters to spell out days of the week. The drawings were then screen-printed with water based non-toxic inks onto plain, soft baby onesies from American Apparel. 

"Shitty Series" Letterpress Greeting Cards

Conceived from a recent report that Canadians use the smiling poop emoji the most, I thought it would be fun and cheeky to produce a couple of snarky letterpress cards that exercised some wordplay. These profane cards remain in the top 3 of Room 2046's bestselling products.  

Cityscape Screenprinted Pillows

Part of the first collection launched under the brand Room 2046, the Cityscape pillows were a collaboration in 2013 with artist and staff member, Flora Shum. Based on my creative direction and photograph that I took during a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Flora intricately illustrated and expertly hand-screened the image in the Room 2046 Studio using non-toxic inks onto the pillow case as featured in the above image. The motif also appeared in various colour-way on an assortment of t-shirts and other textiles.